Right Reverend Taylor admits she's a 'pioneer'

Cameron Atfield

The Right Reverand Taylor, as she is formally known, admits to feeling "a bit like an accidental pioneer". Photo: Harrison Saragossi

Queensland’s newest bishop is the first to admit she’s an accidental trailblazer.

At a lavish ceremony at Brisbane’s St John’s Cathedral on Saturday morning, Alison Taylor was consecrated as Queensland’s first female Anglican bishop.

The Right Reverend Taylor, as she’s now known (‘‘It’s a pretty formal, old fashioned kind of title,’’ she said) was overwhelmed by the scale of her consecration.

‘‘It was just wonderful – it’s a very grand service and there were well over a thousand people there ... and now I’m a bishop,’’ she said, with more than a hint of disbelief.

A congregation watches on as Archdeacon Alison Taylor is consecrated as Queensland's first Anglican woman bishop at St John's Cathedral in Brisbane. Photo: Harrison Saragossi

It was not something she expected when she began studying to become a priest in 1993, after a successful career as an urban planner.

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‘‘At the time there weren’t any woman bishops in Australia – there were a few in the United States and Canada,’’ she said.

‘‘When I went into the church, it was unusual for a woman to even be in charge of her own parish; at the time, most women’s positions in the ministry were more junior. There weren’t any senior women.’’

The Right Reverend Taylor is only the fourth female Anglican bishop in Australia – and the 34th in the world.

‘‘I feel a bit like an accidental pioneer, to be honest,’’ she said.

‘‘I didn’t expect it, but on the other hand, I don’t expect to be the last woman bishop appointed in Australia.

‘‘I really want young women in the church to know that, if this is what they feel called to, they can have a very senior role. I do want them to know that.’’

And it’s a trend she hopes to see extended to other churches.

‘‘I think all churches benefit from a leadership that is as inclusive of its membership as possible,’’ she said.

The Right Reverend Taylor’s southern region diocese stretches from the Brisbane suburbs south of the river to the New South Wales border at Coolangatta and takes in 47 parishes.

‘‘I want the parishes, the communities and the people in my area to feel confident about being Anglican, about being Christian, which isn’t always easy today’’ she said.

‘‘One of the things about the church is we’re mainly feared in public making statements about social issues and moral issues, but basically I believe Anglican communities are places of joy and I want people to know that.’’

1 comment

No, Cameron, she's not "The Right Reverend Taylor" any more than the Prime Minister is "The Right Honorable Gillard". She's either Bishop Taylor or the Right Reverend Alison Taylor.